‘Upstairs, downstairs’ culture returns to the UK

The
UK is seeing a return to an ‘upstairs, downstairs’ culture as top professionals
put in longer hours and are paid more.

A
survey by Lloyds TSB shows that ‘Premier People’ – defined as those who earn at
least £50,000 and own a property worth a minimum of £250,000 or hold liquid
assets of £35,000-plus – rely increasingly on cleaners, gardeners, tradesman
and nannies to take care of them and their homes.

Some
of these high earners work for more than 60 hours a week and one in four are
too busy to go out shopping so buy online instead.

The
research also shows that the nature of the relationship between those upstairs
and those downstairs has changed, with arrangements being conducted on the
basis of business between equals, rather than a master and servant relationship.